Natalie’s POV:

I peeked into the bag to find an extremely elegant strapless dress neatly folded inside along with a pair of black pumps on the side. I took them out and placed them onto my bed—observing them afar.

Where the hell is he planning to take me…? 

Dresses were not my thing. I couldn’t even recall the last time I wore one, and I doubt my figure would look flattering in one anyways. However, I didn’t really have much of a choice tonight. I forced myself to hop out of my pajamas and into the dress, knowing that I didn’t have much time left. Surprisingly, the dress fitted perfectly—hitting all the right curves without a flaw. I curled a few locks of my hairs for an effortless wavy look and quickly applied a thin coat of eyeliner before slipping on the heels that came along with the dress. I grabbed a small black cross-body bag—hoping that it didn’t look too shaggy against the luxurious dress—and opened the door to find Yongguk’s back facing me. 

He turned around at the sound of my jingling keys as I locked the door shut and looked at me—wide-eyed—as if I were from outer space.

“Uhm… Do I have something on my face or…?” I frowned at his obnoxious staring.

“N-No,” he cleared his throat. “Let’s go.”

Yongguk’s POV:

Throughout the whole car ride, Natalie and I stayed silent. However, I couldn’t help but steal a couple of glances at her when she wasn’t paying attention. She had always been beautiful to me, but tonight, she was something extraordinary.

I pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car—smiling to myself when I noticed the reservation sign placed in the front of the restaurant. Everything was going the way I had planned. Natalie murmured a “thank you” in response when I opened the car door for her and lead her inside the restaurant. When the room came into full view, I smirked in pleasure as I watched Natalie’s eyes pop out in amazement.

Along with the numerous large dining tables, there was also a spacious dance floor and a stage for live performances as well. Lined against the walls were hundreds of trays of desserts and a few chocolate fountains. In the middle of the building stood a delicately carved cupid ice sculpture. Everyone in the room was dressed extravagantly tonight, as I expected. A waiter soon escorted us to our reserved table and seated us down.  

“Order whatever you’d like,” I told Natalie as I flipped open the menu, scanning the variety of food choices.

“I’m not hungry,” she replied plainly. Based on the numerous times that her stomach growled hungrily on the way here, it was obvious that she was lying. However, I knew that it wasn’t the time for me to be pushing her to do something she wasn’t comfort with. Therefore, I allowed her as much space as she needed.

“Alright, but if you do get hungry, don’t hesitate to order.”

She nodded as she switched her attention onto the singers on stage. We sat there, watching performances, until there was none left. I knew Natalie wasn’t really interested in these kinds of things, but it was pretty obvious that she forced herself to keep her eyes on the stage to avoid from further conversation with me.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Thank you so much for coming here. We would like to end the night with a few slow songs for all you love birds out there!” the MC announced cheerfully. Everyone clapped in approval—except for Natalie. She continued to stare blankly at the stage. Gradually, everyone left their seats and migrated to the dance floor—slow dancing to the soothing music. Soon, the only people left behind were Natalie and I.

When the next song came on, I finally got myself to choke up those words, “Natalie, may I please have this dance?”

I held out my hand and waited—watching as she looked up at me.

“Y-Yongguk, I don’t know how to dance,” she whispered embarrassingly.

“Don’t worry. Come. It’ll be okay,” I insisted. After a while, she finally placed her hand into my palm and reluctantly allowed me to lead her onto the dance floor.

I planted her hands onto my shoulder and then gently placed mine onto her waist. I began leading the way to the sound of the music, going as slow as I possibly could.

“Don’t think too much of it; your body will naturally flow to the music. Just loosen up, kay?” I whispered into her ear. She nodded nervously as followed my footsteps. Soon enough, she grasped the general concept and began moving on her own without my guidance. Soon, Natalie no longer had to look at the ground to keep beat and began fixing her eyes onto mine. She moved her hands to my nape and interlocked her fingers against the curve of my neck as I pulled her in closer.

Throughout the rest of the songs, neither one us broke eye contact. Lost in each other’s eyes, neither of us noticed that the lights had and kept on dancing as if nothing happened. We abruptly pulled away—feeling extremely embarrassed—when we received a few chuckles from others.

“Aw, you two are so cute,” a woman in her mid-40’s commented kindly. Natalie and I bowed and smiled politely at her before leaving the restaurant.

Natalie’s POV:

“Where are we going?” I asked curiously as Yongguk opened the car door for me.

“You’ll see.”

Yongguk parked his car across the street and walked me over to the other side. In front of us was nothing but infinite hills and valleys. I looked at him strangely, wondering what he had in mind for us to do up there as he began leading me up the trail.

“Ah wait, take off your shoes. It’s going to be hard walking up here with those on,” he told me, nodding his head down towards my four inch heels. I raised an eyebrow at him.

“What if I step on a piece of glass or something and bleed to death?”

“You won’t. Take off your shoes and get on,” he ordered as he crouched down, offering me a piggyback ride.

“Uh, no thanks. Do you want to die? I’m like three thousand pounds—Y-YAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! LET ME DOWN YOU !” I squealed as I felt myself getting lifted off the ground without permission.

“Shut up and hold on before you fall, grandma,” he snorted loudly and rolled his eyes. I subconsciously gazed at him as he began moving uphill. With my arms wrapped his neck and my head gently rested onto his shoulder, I listened to the calming, rhythmic sound of his shoes grinding against the hard gravel and the consistent chirping of the night crickets. Strangely, I felt at ease. 

When we got to the very top, Yongguk planted me back down onto the ground and sat down onto the grass—panting like there was no tomorrow.

“Damn, you’re really heavy,” he laughed.

“I warned you,” I retorted as I sat down next to him. “Why’d you take me here?”

He froze after hearing my question and kept his eyes fixed on the grassy ground.

“I have something to tell you,” he finally said after a while.

“Mmm?”

“I’m really sorry about what happened at the hospital,” he suddenly apologized, causing all the anger that had building within me to quickly dissipate. Slowly, guilt took its place.

“No, I should be the one saying sorry. I should’ve known you were joking, and—“

“Natalie, I wasn’t joking,” he intermitted before turning to look at me with sincerity evident in his eyes.

“W-What?” I muttered in surprise.

“Natalie, I like you. I’m serious,” he repeated himself.

I suddenly felt dizzy. Did I hear him correctly?

He reached over and grabbed my hand. Bringing it up to his face, he placed my index finger through the string of his mask. Slowly, he unhooked it from his ear and removed it away—revealing the bottom half of his face that I had been yearning to see for so long.

My heart skipped a beat when my eyes met his straight, high-bridged nose and divine lips for the very first time. I began to wonder if he was even human—because it was practically impossible for any human being to be this perfect.

Unable to control myself, I reached over and brushed my fingers against his nose—and then down to his lips—wondering if what I was experiencing at the moment was real or not. Yongguk followed my eyes as I scanned his face over and over again.

Slowly, he inched in closer to me.

My heart began to flutter uncontrollably as I felt his breath hovering over my upper lip.

Soon, the miniature gap between us closed with his velvety lips melting onto mine.

When we finally broke away, I found myself whispering, “I like you too, Bang Yongguk.”